Sweeney's Blogs

Time to Talk – Blog 1: The Introduction

February 10, 2020August 8, 2020James Sweeney

Time to Talk Day 2020 was on 06/02/2020 and in celebration of such an important event, I have decided to start this new Time to Talk series! This series is going to be a real eye opening series and is going to be on that I am really looking forward to starting!

Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!

This is the 1st blog in the new Time to Talk series that I am going to be launching. This series was inspired by Time to Talk Day which was on the 6th of February this year! This series is going to all be about people’s stories regarding Stuttering, Stress and Mental Health. The aim of this series is to share and tell the stories that help make us who we are and how we have got to where we are now.

Although the main concept for Time to Talk day is surrounding opening up about Mental Health problems, I feel like if we bring in conditions such as Stuttering and Stress then it can make for an even more enlightening experience to both read and write. I also feel like this will open up a lot of different avenues that people can discuss and share experiences in which can ultimately help more and more people.

I am planning on running and writing this series very differently from how I usually write them. I feel like for this series to have the desired effect and message that I want it to have then it would be much better to bring in guest writers who wish to share their story. If you have any ideas or stories that you want to share then please feel free to get in contact with me! I am always happy to talk through ideas, no matter how weird or bizarre they may seem at first!

All I’m looking for is a story, can be as long or short as you’d like, about a time where you’ve experienced or seen someone experience something relating to Stuttering, Stress, Mental Health or anything similar to these! If you want to stay anonymous or want to use an alias for your story too that is completely fine, it is the story itself and the message it carries that is important. Let me know if you have any ideas!

In regards to the schedule of the series, at this current moment, I am unsure of how long the series is going to be and when the new blogs in the series will be released. I suppose it comes down to how many people wish to share their story. I may or may not write a few blogs for the series too, it is something that I am not 100% on currently but is something that I am thinking of doing. I feel that the blogs that I could write for the series would be better in their own series and really want this series to be about other peoples stories.

If you have an idea for a blog or story and are nervous about writing or sharing it please get in contact with me too. We can discuss the idea through and if you want to then write it I can help with the wording and phrasing if appropriate. As stated previously every idea is encouraged, I will always talk through ideas with you, even if it seems really silly at first!

That’s all I want to talk about in today’s blog! Thank you all for reading! What do you all think? Are you excited for this new series? Do you have any ideas that you want to share? Have you ever had an idea but didn’t know how to take it forward? Leave your answers to the following questions either in the comments or on our Facebook page and we’ll have a chat about it!

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great day!

Sweeney’s Blogs

Any money donated here is greatly appreciated! I will be putting the money back into the page through advertising, guest writers and conet creation!

£5.00

James

Time to Talk Day 2020!

February 6, 2020August 8, 2020James Sweeney

Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!

Today, February 6th 2020, is the annual Time to Talk Day! Time to Talk Day is designed to encourage people to speak up about any problems or issues they have been facing in regards to their Mental Health. It is an enormous day of the year in regards to Mental Health and is a day that I feel is not focused on as much as it should be, this is one thing that I am hoping to change over the next few years.

Having the confidence and indeed the courage to stand up and talk to somebody when you are going through problems with your Mental Health can, to many, be seen as an impossible hurdle to get past in life but I firmly believe it is a crucial step in both accepting and resolving the issues and problems that we are faced with in life. The spotlight is slowly starting to be shone on Mental Health but in my eyes there is still so much more that needs to be done. As a society we need to try and understand how hard it can actually be to say that you need help. Too many simply asking for help can be an impossible task, and that is something that we need to try and change.

The first thing that I believe we need to change is how we see Mental Health. The video below will help give you an insight into what Mental Health actually is and how it affects us in day to day life:

As we can see from the video, Mental Health affects each and every one of us. it is a part of who we are and is something that we should be proud of, not ashamed or embarrassed of. Time to Talk day is designed to encourage us to speak up and talk about our problems which is also one of the key principles of this page!

We all have our good and bad days but it is crucial to remember that they are normal in life! I openly admit that I have days which seem like they last forever and then days that go by in a second. There are days when maybe you will be more upset than you usually are but if we focus on those days then that is all we will ultimately see. Learning to identify when you are having an off day can sometimes be a lifesaver. Remember talking to people can make a massive difference, even if it is just over a cup of tea, this is where Time to Talk Day comes into play!

If you are not quite sure what Time to Talk Day is then the video below will hopefully give you an idea of what Time to Talk Day is all about!

In celebration and appreciation for Time to Talk Day I am going to be launching a new series of aimed at encouraging people to talk about the times they have come into contact with Mental Health. It can have affected you or somebody you know and if you want too, you can remain anonymous. If you have any ideas or want to share your own story please get in touch! I’ll more than happily listen to any suggestions or ideas!

If you would like to learn more about Time to Talk Day, you can do so through the following link: https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/get-involved/time-talk-day

Thank you all for reading today’s blog! Happy Time To Talk Day! What do you think of today’s blog? Have you heard of Time to Talk Day before? Are you doing anything special today? What do you think we need to do regarding Mental Health as a society and a community? Let me know what you think in the comments or through our Facebook page!

Sweeney’s Blogs

Any money donated will be used for content, advertising and future page plans!

£5.00

James

How to Turn Negative Urges into Positive Actions — Dr. Eric Perry, PhD

February 4, 2020August 9, 2020James Sweeney

Written by Dr. Eric Perry, PhD Image Credit: Pixabay “Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one.” ~Hans Selye Sublimation is a subconscious psychological defense mechanism whereby we take a negative impulse and channel it into a positive behavior. This is similar to displacement (click here to refer to my earlier […]

via How to Turn Negative Urges into Positive Actions — Dr. Eric Perry, PhD

Time to Talk Stories

February 3, 2020August 8, 2020James Sweeney

Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!

We are currently looking for people to share their stories for Time to Talk week! If you have ever experienced something to do with Stuttering, Stress or Mental Health and would like to share your story then please get in touch!

If you know anyone or have a story you would like to talk about, please let me know! The story can be as long or as short as you want, it’s the message that’s important. If you have a story but are unsure about how to write it, I can help you out with that as well. If you are nervous about sharing your story and want to do it anonymously then that is completely fine as well!

In regards to when I will need the stories by, any time is fine! If you can get it to me fairly quickly then even better but if not then simply get it to me when you can. When you send it to me I will read it through and then if it reads well and has no mistakes, it will be published shortly after. If I have any suggestions for edits or changes then we will discuss them first before we move forward.

Thanks for reading! If you have any ideas or suggestions, please get in touch! See you all in the next blog!

Sweeney’s Blogs

Any money donated here will be put back into the business. This can be through marketing campaigns, upgrades to plans or for setting up future events!

£5.00

James

Set Yourself Up for a Realistic Path to Wellness —

January 29, 2020August 8, 2020James Sweeney

Often, we think in terms of perfection. Everything in its place, just the way it is supposed to be. Perfect. Anything short of that is considered disappointing. But, what happens when we fall short of these expectations? When the kitchen always has pieces of mail scattered on the dining table and crumbs on the floor. […]

via Set Yourself Up for a Realistic Path to Wellness —

How to Create Engaging Content — The Art of Blogging

January 27, 2020August 8, 2020James Sweeney

Imagine you have a valuable piece of information that you believe is life-changing in nature. You want to share that information with your readers, but more than that, you want them to ACT on that information. To internalize it, to feel not just remember it. Say you want your readers to be aware of how […]
How to Create Engaging Content — The Art of Blogging

Alzheimer’s Avoidance – Blog 13: Series Summary

January 24, 2020August 8, 2020James Sweeney

Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!

Today’s blog is going to be the 13th and final blog in the Alzheimer’s Avoidance series. As this blog is going to be the final blog in this series, at least for now, it is going to act as a summary of the whole series. In this blog, I am going to be going through some of the main points that have been discussed throughout this series and how they relate to both Alzheimer’s Avoidance and Alzheimer’s Awareness.

Throughout this series, we have talked about several different methods techniques that can help reduce your chance of getting Alzheimer’s/ Dementia. These methods have ranged from regular exercise, through to completing puzzle games and even listening to music. The main theme that transcended throughout was that all of the different methods/techniques engaged the brain in Mental Stimulation.

Mental Stimulation is at the forefront when it comes to reducing the chances of getting Alzheimer’s/Dementia. Ensuring that your mind is actively engaging in a vast array of activities is key when it comes to not only Alzheimer’s/Dementia but also when it comes to Mental Health as a whole.

One common trend that is very fitting to Alzheimer’s is a lack of understanding. It is something that you find more and more when discussing more general Mental Health problems but even more so when you are talking about Alzheimer’s/Dementia. Learning how a condition affects not only the person suffering but also their surrounding family and friends can be essential when it comes to coming to terms with the condition. It is said that you can only really accept a condition if you fully understand what it is and the effect that it can have on your lives. In my opinion, if you fully understand a condition then you will be better equipped to process and manage the condition if it ever affects you or your family.

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Although this series is coming to a close, I will still be creating a lot of content in regards to Alzheimer’s. All of the blogs in this series are available in the Blogapedia page, every other blog I have done on Alzheimer’s is available via selecting the Alzheimer’s category on the Category cloud or by searching Alzheimer’s on the pages search bar. I am also fixing my Alzheimer’s Awareness page, Don’t Forget Me, so if you would like to learn more about Alzheimer’s then more content can be found there. I will be adding more content to the page over the next few weeks so if you are curious, check it out. you can find the page here: http://www.dontforgetme.org.uk.

That’s all I want to talk about in today’s blog! Thank you all for reading! What do you think of this series? Are you sad to see it go? What series would you like to see on the page next? Would you like to see any specific blogs in the future?

Thanks,

James

Sweeney’s Blogs

Any money donated here will be put back into the business. This can be through marketing campaigns, upgrades to plans or for setting up future events!

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Our New Business Partnership

January 20, 2020August 8, 2020James Sweeney

Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!

I am delighted to announce that we are now in a business partnership with HHRUK! The deal is a huge milestone for both me and the business and is a huge bonus going forward. We have been working on the deal for a while now and I am glad to say that the first post has now been released!

You can view the post here:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/hhruk-health-wellbeing-programme-joe-madgwick/

For the partnership, I am going to be creating and releasing blogs and courses alongside HHRUK. For the blogs, there will be a new blog every 2-3 weeks covering topics such as Stuttering, Stress and Mental Health, similar to what we do on this page. The courses will cover similar content as to what is covered on the blogs however will be in more depth than the blog posts.

I am really excited to be a part of this new project and I am really looking forward to the content we are going to create going forward. If you are unsure who HHRUK are or maybe want to find out more, you can view their page here: https://www.hhruk.co.uk/.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you have a great day! If you have any questions relating to our new deal or on anything else please get in touch with me! It’s been a great few weeks for the page and the future is only looking better!

Thanks,

Sweeney’s Blogs

Any money donated here will be put back into the business. This can be through marketing campaigns, upgrades to plans or for setting up future events!

£5.00

James

I’m 21 Years Old Today!

January 14, 2020August 8, 2020James Sweeney

Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!

Today, Monday, January 14th 2020, is my 21st birthday! I was born back in 1999 and I cannot believe how fast time is going! I have been thinking about how to do this blog for a while and think that I am going to use this post to go through some of my biggest and proudest achievements to date.

Starting Sweeney’s Blogs!

Although I only started this page back in February 2019, it has become one of my biggest accomplishments! We have covered so many topics already and this is only the start! We smashed all of the goals I set last year and are branching out to more and more people each day! I am so proud and grateful for everything that the page has done and all I can say is thank you for all the help I have gotten over the year! We still have a long way to go but what a start to the page!

2. My Charity Skydive for The Alzheimer’s Society!

One of the maddest and best things I have done in my life has got to be the 12,000 feet Charity Skydive I did for The Alzheimer’s Society back in October 2019! It was a huge jump for me, ( sorry I couldn’t help myself!), and to raise money for a great cause whilst doing it was even better! We managed to raise over £900 in the end and it was a great day out! I will be doing a blog on it sometime this year so keep an eye out!

3. Coming to the University of Reading!

Coming to University was one of the biggest steps I have taken in my life. The majority of people I spoke to before coming up told me that I wouldn’t last living away from home and that I would drop out in the first few weeks but didn’t I prove them wrong! Working closely with Henley Careers has been amazing too! I even managed to get a blog on their blog page!

Meeting all sorts of new people at University has also been amazing! My flatmates in the first year of university are absolutely incredible people! Meeting great people from all walks of life on both the Computer Science side as well as the Business side of my course has also been great!

4. My jobs as a Lifegurd and Swimming Teacher

I have been a Lifeguard and Swimming Teacher for over 3 and a half years now. It has been an amazing experience for me and I have learned lots of different transferable skills. Being able to teach, advice, help and support people in and out of the pool is a great experience to be a part of and has helped me meet people from all different walks of life.

And so much more! When I first started writing this list I was going to make it a lot longer than it actually is. I only stopped because I noticed that as I was typing more and more ideas were coming to my head and if i carried on then you’d be reading for hours! Instead I am going to make blogs like this every so often as like a recap blog, letting you know what I’ve gotten up to.

Unfortunately the last blog in the Alzheimer’s Avoidance series will not be released this week. I was soriginally going to do it today but due to lack of time, I have not been able to do it. It will be coming next week though so keep an eye out!

Thanks for reading!

Sweeney’s Blogs

Any money donated here will be put back into the business. This can be through marketing campaigns, upgrades to plans or for setting up future events!

£5.00

James

Don’t Forget Me -Update News

January 10, 2020February 27, 2023James Sweeney

Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!

Today’s blog is all about my Alzheimer’s Awareness page, Don’t Forget Me. Don’t Forget Me was the first website that I ever created and is a website that I hand-coded myself. I am going to be converting the website from a hand-coded page to a WordPress hosted site. By converting the page, it will be a lot easier to update and manage the page as well as track how it is doing, performance-wise.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with my page. Don’t Forget Me was a website that I first created for a project as part of my HNC Computing and Information Systems. After completing the project I decided to keep the page going and I was going to try and update it as much as I could. I decided to make an Alzheimer’s Awareness site as my grandmother has severe Alzheimer’s and I wanted to help families going through similar things to what mine has gone through/are yet to go through.

I ran into a few problems with the old page as I was limited in updating it to my knowledge of HTML, CSS, JQuery and JavaScript. Due to differing workloads, I did not have time to update the site as much as I would have liked. Now as the page will be on WordPress I will be able to update the site as and where I need to. It will be much easier to tailor content to what people need and want to see and will also look a lot better.

I am not 100% sure of all the content that is going to be on the page yet as it is still a working progress. What I can tell you is that there is going to be a page on what is Alzheimer’s, a page on support techniques and a page on where you can go to get help, among others. I am working towards getting the original URL for Don’t Forget Me over to this page but it is going to take a few days.

Here is the link for Don’t Forget Me: https://www.dontforgetme.org.uk/

This link will take you to the old page until the update has passed through and it has been updated to the new page. If you want to see the old page for a few more times it will be available through the link above. If you want to see it after that get in touch with me and I’ll happily send you the other link!

That’s all I want to talk about in today’s blog! What do you all think? Are you excited about the new changes coming to Don’t Forget Me? Is there any content that you want to see on the page? Is there anything you don’t want to see? Let me know what you think of these questions and any other thoughts you have in the comments or through our Facebook page, Sweeney’s Blogs or Don’t Forget Me!

Thanks for reading,

Sweeney’s Blogs

Any money donated here will be put back into the business. This can be through marketing campaigns, upgrades to plans or for setting up future events!

£5.00

James

Difficult Roads — Cristian Mihai

January 9, 2020August 9, 2020James Sweeney

Excellent post that was written by Cristian Mihai. If you enjoy this post, be sure to check out his other blogs!

“The struggle alone pleases us, not the victory.” – Blaise Pascal It is a well known fact that the more effort you put into something, the more you end up enjoying it. Maybe that’s why we love unrequited love stories and folks who defy odds and expectations to come out on top. Maybe not many folks […]

via Difficult Roads — Cristian Mihai

Know your self- worth — lilian’s blog

January 7, 2020August 8, 2020James Sweeney

Here’s a great blog I found today all about knowing your self-worth. It’s a great read, let me know what you think of it!

Realizing your self-worth has nothing to do with checking your bank balance, it is about you, the person you are in life. We give others respect, love and consideration but how often do we give ourselves what is due? How you value yourself is based on the self-esteem you have, your self-esteem shows you how […]

via Know your self- worth — lilian’s blog

Alzheimer’s Avoidance – Blog 12: Understanding Alzheimer’s

January 6, 2020August 8, 2020James Sweeney

With a forever increasing population, and with people living longer, there are more and more people being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and Dementia each day. That fact in itself is scary however it gets worse when we look at how many people actually understand what Alzheimer’s is. This is going to be what we are going to be talking about in today’s blog, what exactly is Alzheimer’s?

Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!

Today’s blog is the 12th blog in the Alzheimer’s Avoidance series and is going to be about understanding Alzheimer’s. It is easy to say that Alzheimer’s is just losing your memories but it is so much more than that. Alzheimer’s and Dementia are two very severe conditions that can potentially lead to death. If we know what Alzheimer’s and Dementia actually are and the differences that lie between the two, then I believe that we will be in a position moving forward.

We’ll first take a look at a video published by Bupa Health UK that looks into the differences between Alzheimer’s and Dementia:

As you can see from the video there is a clear difference between Alzheimer’s and Dementia. It is important to remember this difference when talking about each of the conditions. Despite this difference, there are quite a lot of similarities between the two regarding how they affect you and what happens when they both progress and get worse.

One of the common mistakes that I hear when talking to people about Alzheimer’s is then saying that Alzheimer’s only makes people lose some of their memories. I have learned the hard way that this is simply not the case. Alzheimer’s is a cruel condition which takes a person you love away from you and then leaves them as a shell of what they once were.

Alzheimer’s is a horrific condition that sadly people don’t understand until someone they know gets diagnosed with it. People do lose their memories, yes, but they also do so much more. They forget how to walk, how to talk and eventually how to even breathe. Alzheimer’s and Dementia both can kill. It is something that is barely ever spoken about but it is a reality when talking about the two. They are very dangerous illnesses that if not handled with care, can become deadly.

This blog isn’t meant to sound negative, it is just meant to be completely honest. From my experience, I would have loved to have known more about Alzheimer’s before my grandmother was diagnosed with it. Learning about the condition whilst watching it take your loved one away is a painful thing to do and I feel like we should try and change it. Understanding can take a while but it is a part of life and is something that we all do eventually.

One thing that I want to mention, a thing that I wish I understood at the time, is that Alzheimer’s doesn’t wait. Alzheimer’s doesn’t stop and wait for your approval or for you to be ready when it starts affecting someone. You need to make the most of the time you have left because honestly, it will get harder as time goes on and as I have mentioned it doesn’t wait for you.

The fact that it doesn’t wait for you again isn’t meant to scare you, it is the harsh reality of the situation. If you wait a few weeks for Alzheimer’s to ‘blow over’ then I’m sorry to say that you have wasted those weeks out of the time that you had left. You need to make the most of the person while they are still there. Go out to the beach, take that trip, have that photo. Get things done while you can, you will feel glad about it eventually.

There is a lot more information out there about Alzheimer’s if you do want to learn more. There are blogs and series on this page, you have organisations such as The Alzheimer’s Society and you can ask your GP. If you’re looking for stuff on this page I would recommend either searching ‘Alzheimer’s’ on our page search bar or read the blogs on Alzheimer’s in our Blogapedia! If you have any questions let me know!

That’s all I want to talk about in today’s blog! I think that today’s blog is the penultimate blog in the Alzheimers Avoidance series! There have been a lot of blogs in the series now and I feel like I have covered a lot of what I set out to cover. What do you think of today’s blog? Have you enjoyed the Alzheimer’s Avoidance series? Do you know what Alzheimer’s and Dementia are? Let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great day!

Sweeney’s Blogs

Any money donated here will be put back into the business. This can be through marketing campaigns, upgrades to plans or for setting up future events!

£5.00

James

Balancing Self Confidence and Self Worth — Self Development dot ga

January 4, 2020August 9, 2020James Sweeney

This is a great post written by a fellow blogger. Be sure to check them out if you enjoy this post!

Self Confidence and Self Worth obviously have a lot to do with how well we do in life. However, what confuses the picture is that the two terms are often used as if they have the same meaning. They are really very different things. Self Confidence is about how we relate to the world. Self…

via Balancing Self Confidence and Self Worth — Self Development dot ga

2019, What a Year for the Page!

January 2, 2020January 2, 2021James Sweeney

2019, an incredible year for Sweeney’s Blogs! I started in February 2019 and the progress and milestones that we have already passed are absolutely amazing to see, and provide lots of promise as to the future of the page! Today’s blog is going to take a look at some of the best achievements we made in 2019, some of the blogs we covered and what we hope to do going forward, I hope you enjoy the blog!

Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!

I started this page in February 2019 and we have already done so well. As of the 1st January 2020, we have achieved:

Over 5100 views!
Over 350 likes of our Facebook Page!
Over 900 comments on the page!
116 Blog posts!
82 Followers on the page!

As you can see from the points above the page has been doing incredibly well and I am really happy with the progress. I set a goal at the start of the year of 5,000 views thinking that I would never be able to do it and we managed to get over 5100 in the end! I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who reads the posts on the page. Whether you have read 1 or 100 of the posts, thank you for your time and energy and welcome to the community! The page wouldn’t be where it is today without its readers so a massive thank you to all of you!

We have also covered a vast array of different topics on the page over the past year! Ranging from individual blogs, podcast reviews reblogs of other bloggers posts and finally the blog series we have run, the content that we have talked about on the page is enormous. If you haven’t checked out any of our series yet you can access them through this link, https://sweeneysblog.com/blogapedia/, or by clicking on the blogapedia tab.

In regards to what content we have looked at, the list includes:

Male Mental Health – Both in individual blogs and in the Looking Into Male Mental Health blog series
Stuttering – Through the Stuttering in Mainstream Media series and a few individual blogs
Alzheimer’s – Mainly through my Alzheimer’s Awareness and Alzheimer’s Avoidance series.
Being Different and how that is a good thing through the Being Different series
Positivity and Motivation
Mental Health as a whole
How to balance stress and life
Adaptability

Plus much much more!

2019 was a great year for us and that is only touching on a few things that we have in the works! I have a business deal that the page has which I cannot wait to share with everyone, we are going to start launching courses in business doing talks on Stuttering, Stress and Mental Health and of course, we are going to have a lot more blogs coming, covering content both far and wide!

Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed the blog! How do you think we did in 2019? Are there any changes that you want to see on the page? Would you like to be a guest writer on the page? Would you like to have a course or talk led at your business? Let me know!

Thanks again for reading and I hope you have a great day!

Sweeney’s Blogs

Any money donated here will be put back into the business. This can be through marketing campaigns, upgrades to plans or for setting up future events!

£5.00

James